Game XI: Royals vs Angels

Last Saturday, the Royals were coming off of a Friday night win and 2 games under .500. During the Friday night game, a Royals lefty SP pitched well, Salvy homered, and the Royals offense put up more than 4 runs. One week later and... not much has changed. The Royals are now 4-6 instead of 1-3. The offense is still scuffling a bit, the bullpen is still a bit iffy, and the starting pitching is still a hair better than expected.

Fortunately, Cleveland is off to a slow start, too, with an identical 4-6 last place mark. That’s allowed 1st place Detroit to jump out to a 3 game lead over the two with the rebuilding Twins and White Sox in between. .

It’s Jackie Robinson Day, so while the uniform numbers may be confusing, it’s a day to remember one of baseball’s most difficult challenges and finest moments. The Dodgers will be unveiling a new statue at Dodger Stadium on this, the 70th anniversary, of Robinson breaking the color barrier.

Toeing the rubber for the Royals is Nate Karns, who pitched well enough to win in Houston last Sunday before the bullpen gave up some cheap Crawford boxes home runs and Matt Strahm walked home a run in the 12th. He will be opposed by Disney Presents the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Matt Shoemaker, who is not actually a cobbler of footwear.

Below is the table:

And below are lineups:

(likely Flanigan tweet)

Three in a row is a legit streak and would bring the Royals to within 1 of .500. Let’s try that.